Matthew 14:22-33

Year of Me: Me Time/Marriage/Friendship Goals Update

When I wrote my first post about the Year of Me, I ended with “Me Time” and touched briefly on marriage and friendship. For Me Time, I said I wanted, “Guilt free regularly scheduled sitter during the day a few days a week so that I can nap, run errands, read a book at a coffee shop, blog, exercise, etc.” As for marriage and friendship, I wrote, “I’m still pondering specific goals for these two areas, but I’m envisioning more regular contact and in-person visits with my friends as well as some new hobbies and ways to spend quality time with Philip.”

Goal updates:

Me Time

Philip has always been and continues to be so generous in helping me to find pockets of time for me. Over the summer, I had a sitter help with the 3 older kids Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 8 a.m. until naptime at 1:30 p.m. It was wonderful! It gave me a chance to bond more with Dorothy as we worked on nursing. After I got my morning workout in, she tagged along with me to get errands run or get things done around the house while she snoozed.

Now that we’re into the school year, we have a sitter come over on Wednesdays after school for two hours. That way, I can get a few things done in the middle of the week. I use the time to do dinner prep, run an errand or two, prepare for my parish women’s group, plan something for GodTeens, or blog.

I started taking tennis lessons last month, and I love it! Philip was a tennis player in high school, so it’s fun to have a sport that we can play together in addition to golf.

Playing tennis on vacation last week (More on that later!)

Going forward, my Me Time goals are to:

Write:

Publish at least 2 times each week on my blog

Dedicate at least 10 minutes everyday to writing

Reach out to writers I admire to learn more about the nitty gritty of blogging/writing for them

Read for at least 30 minutes everyday

Tennis: continue weekly lessons

Sew

Schedule a sewing lesson by November 1st

Finish my receiving blankets by November 15th

Finish my napkins by December 1st

For marriage, my goals are to:

Schedule regular date nights with Philip (at least 2 out and 1 at home each month)

Get ready for bed at 9:00 p.m. so that we have time for “bedtime book club” and pillow talk

For friendship, my goals are to:

Call one person everyday instead of just texting–even if it’s just for a few minutes

Schedule bimonthly outings with girlfriends

Questions for You:

How do you keep your tank full? When was the last time you scheduled time to do something that you love just because? How are you keeping the spark alive in your marriage? Are your friendships as strong as they could be? How do you keep in touch with your friends when life gets busy?